Installing a Vinyl Floor
Installing a Vinyl Floor
Installing Vinyl Floors
If you live in an older house, sooner
or later you are going to have to replace a floor—the kitchen floor for
instance. Kitchen floors are usually never carpeted and almost always made of
vinyl or ceramic tile so as to be able to clean spills easily. Most, when opting
to replace a kitchen floor on a tight budget, will choose the vinyl tiles. Some
kitchen floors are also replaced with vinyl sheeting but this article discusses
the tiles.
When laying vinyl tiles, preparation
is everything and preparation is dependent on what type of vinyl tile you
choose. If you want a vinyl floor that lasts for many years, choose the tiles
with the adhesive already on the backing. These are tiles where you just peel
off a sheet on the bottom face and the adhesive is already applied. The
non-stick tiles require you having to apply adhesive to the floor with a notched
trowel and this does not always go well plus the tile is more apt to warping
later on if there are spots where the adhesive did not apply properly.
In preparation for laying a vinyl tile
floor, you need to measure the area so you know how many tiles to buy. This is
obvious but keep in mind that there are 9-inch tiles and 12-inch tiles. If you
buy 9-inch tiles, you are going to have to do some math to convert the
measurements (width and length) in feet to units of 9 inches. Just take the
measurements, divide by 9 and then multiply those results together (width times
height) and you get the number of tiles you need. If you want to save every
penny, you can subtract out for counters and other structures in the kitchen
that have a footprint over the otherwise rectangular area. However, keep in mind
that you may need a few extra tiles for replacing those that get scratched or
damaged in the future.
In preparation of the surface for the
new tiles, you have a couple of choices. You can either lay the new tiles on top
of the old vinyl floor (the easiest) or take up the old vinyl floor and apply
the new ones to the foundation. The most difficult part of the latter method is
that you will have to take up of the old tiles and depending on the age of the
floor, this could prove to be difficult. Also take heed that some tiles in older
houses could be made of asbestos. In this case, you should just lay the new tile
on top of the old as you will need a respirator and mask to chip away old
asbestos tiles. In some states this is illegal and only licensed contractors are
allowed to do this type of job.
If laying new tile on top of old, the
biggest problem will be the clearance between the old floor and the baseboards
around the wall and kitchen counters. Usually you will find caulking between the
bottom of the baseboard and the top of the floor and this will have to be
removed. If the new tile will not fit under the baseboards then they will have
to be removed and adjusted upwards.
Should you choose to take up the old
tile before laying the new, you will have to make sure that all material is
scraped away and that the sub-floor is not damaged. Any low points in the
sub-floor will definitely show up after you lay the tiles as the vinyl will take
on the shape of any sub-floor imperfections. If the sub-floor is wood or if it
has many low points, you might want to consider putting down cement backer
sheets (thin cement sheets used as sub-flooring) so as to make a smooth and
level sub-floor surface. This is even more reason to just lay new vinyl tile
over old vinyl tile.
Never start laying vinyl tile squares
from along the walls. Always start in the center of the room. Having said this,
you must also draw your guidelines with chalk from the center of the room and
parallel to the walls. You will need to remember a little geometry here about
parallelism. Lay the tiles starting from the center and working outwards towards
the walls.
Why start from the center? If you
start from the walls and work towards the center, you will quickly find that if
the alignment gets slightly thrown off, that misalignment will stick with you
throughout the entire installation. If you start from the middle then the most
important and visible tiles will appear properly-centered.
As you peel away the
sheets on the backs of the tiles and press the tiles to the floor, you will
quickly see your new floor start to take shape. It is important that you make
sure there are no air bubbles underneath the tiles so use a standard rolling pin
to press down each securely. You will begin to get very excited as you see your
kitchen become like new again.
Feel free to email me with your questions or comments.
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